Category Archives: Faith & Religion

by: the Common Constitutionalist

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Not being a Catholic, I can say I am neither a particular fan, but certainly not a detractor of the Catholic faith. To me, it’s just one of many Christian faiths. In other words, although I am Christian, I have no skin in the Catholicism game, so I can write as an objective observer.

As an objective observer, I believe the Catholic Church has a serious problem. No – it’s not a problem of religion, faith, or the faithful – it’s a leadership problem.

Since he was installed in 2013 as the 266th Pope, we’ve known that Francis leaned a bit to the left. So much so that conservatives have written many articles dedicated to this topic. And that is unusual for mostly political authors to write about specific religions, other than citing them to make a point.

But I personally have written 2 or 3 articles and recorded a podcast regarding, not Catholicism or the Church, but of Pope Francis. Simply put, the Pope is at the very least, a leftist, and at worst, a communist. There is simply no way of sugar-coating it. He is a redistributionist and global warming fanatic, and has softened the Church’s stance on abortion and homosexuality. These are not merely political stances that can be tweaked over time. These are centuries-old Catholic traditions, as well as set-in-stone tenets of Christian faith. read more

New Documentary film highlights the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, where almost 1 million have been killed since 2005.

from the Blaze:

Paula Kweskin, 33, didn’t expect her life to turn out this way — but she’s glad it did.

Kweskin attended law school at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she earned a jurisdoctorate in international law in 2010. Her goal from the outset of her higher education pursuit was to help the less fortunate in the world through practicing law.

She soon found out that bureaucracy made that task extremely difficult. So, she focused on other ways to help — specifically, she turned to media.

The secular-left website Slate recently warned on Twitter that “‘Religious Freedom’ legislation will be everywhere in 2017.” “Religious freedom” is in scare quotes, a warning that deplorables will use that thing called religion as their weapon of choice in the coming assault on the LGBTQ community.

The same website is celebrating a petition urging the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to reverse its acceptance of an invitation to sing at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. read more

by: the Common Constitutionalist

I’ve expressed my perplexity with the present Vicar of Christ in the past and it doesn’t appear I’ll be jumping on his band-wagon anytime soon.

By all accounts, Pope Francis is a good guy. Of course he’s a good guy – he’s the head of the Catholic Church – revered by millions! But, as I’ve stated before – I’m not Catholic – so to me, he’s just a man – flawed like me and you.

That being said – I have been tough on him in the past and as I am not Catholic, when he says or does something I consider to be a bit off (in my opinion), I call him on it – the way I would anyone else, or anyone might do of me.

Among the many faults we conservatives find of the left is their use of moral relativism. Being that the Pope appears to have liberal and socialist leanings, his use of moral relativism should not be surprising. But this doesn’t seem to jibe with a laymen’s view of the Catholic Church – which has always been culturally or socially conservative.

Yet this Pope has waded into a number of hot social and political topics since being elevated and most of his opinions have taken a decidedly liberal bent – and this one is no different.

On a plane ride back to the Vatican from a trip to Poland, Pope Francis revealed his thoughts on Islamic violence. He said: “I think it is not right to identify Islam with violence. This is not right and this is not true.” read more

by: the Common Constitutionalist

A group from Salem Massachusetts is fighting for the right to institute their own version of an afterschool program to elementary schools across the nation. The Satanic Temple’s cofounder Doug Mesner, who goes by the name Lucien Greaves, is attempting to introduce “Satan After School” (SAS) to “counterbalance Christian afterschool programs.”

And not just any Christian afterschool program. They are targeting schools which have allowed the Christian “Good News Club” in.

The Washington Post writes that what brought on the desire of the Satanic Temple to start an afterschool program was a 2001 supreme Court ruling. The ruling allowed for the Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) to be included in afterschool programs as a matter of free speech rights.

As if we needed the supremes to tell us that. The Post says that the “CEF then went on a tear, and by 2011, it reported 3,560 Good News Clubs, putting them in more than 5% of the nation’s public elementary schools.” read more

by: the Common Constitutionalist

This year, February 27, Pokémon (pocket monster) turned 20. It was created by Japanese game designer Satoshi Tajiri for Nintendo as a video game for the old Gameboy handheld video game platform. My sons still own theirs. It was introduced to the United States in 1998. Nintendo was quick to capitalize on its popularity. The video game soon spawned a celebrated trading card game, books, movies and a television series. The tag line of Pokémon is: “Gotta Catch Em All.”

Since then, at least a few of the Pokémon characters have gained international recognition. One of the most recognized characters, called Pikachu, was made into a five story tall Thanksgiving Day parade balloon.

But like most everything else, particularly in the what-have-done-for-me-lately world of video games, all things must come to an end – except Pokémon.

Unless you have been living under a rock – and even then it would be hard to miss the hundreds and thousands of people in any given geographic area that appear to just be walking around aimlessly. The one thing they all have in common is the smartphone, which they stare into as they stroll about. read more

Former longtime Congressman from Massachusetts and liberal Lioness, Barney Fwank, returned to Capital Hill on Tuesday to testify against passage of the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA).

I won’t bore you with the minutia of the Bill or all the ridiculous and sadly necessary legalese of the FADA, H.R. 2802, but in a nutshell, the very first sentence says it all. “To prevent discriminatory treatment of any person on the basis of views held with respect to marriage.” Is it just me, or can that be the entire Bill? In fact it does say it all. There is no need for the minutia – the details of what type of discrimination may take place.

No person can be discriminated against, which also means no organization, because they are made up of…persons. But still Congress felt the need to fill the page(s) with examples of potential discriminatory actions and findings. After all, they must justify their existence as lawmakers.

Well, needless to say, the left isn’t happy with the prospect of not being able to wantonly attack anyone who chooses not to tow the LGBT line, so they brought out of moth balls a secret weapon – super genius and homosexual, Barney Frank. read more

by: the Common Constitutionalist

Many ethnic groups in America have representation in local, state and the federal government, but thanks to Justice Hugo Black, religion isn’t afforded the same benefit.

One can be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and be a Christian, Hindu, Muslim, etc. For example, the Congressional Black Caucus is said to address the concerns of all black Americans, regardless of religion. (They don’t really, but this is just to make a point).

Yet due to the mythical separation of church and state, religious organizations are not allowed a seat at the government table – until now.

Once again, like a broken record, there is one “religion” that is extended privileges historically afforded to only secular groups. And of course this is Islam, or what the left has come to call it – the Muslim community – as if Muslim is now an ethnicity.

Thanks to the tireless work by the radicals of the Muslim Brotherhood, “Illinois could become the first state with a law on the books that gives Muslims a formal voice in government.” The state law would mandate that a 21 member Council “advise the governor and General Assembly on issues affecting Muslim Americans and immigrants.” read more

by: the Common Constitutionalist

Can you believe it? It’s been three years since Aaron & Melissa Klein landed in hot water over the lesbian wedding cake incident.

As you may recall, and how could anyone not, the Kleins, owners of Sweet Cakes bakery in Gresham Oregon, were charged with discriminating against a lesbian couple who wished for them to make a wedding cake.

The Kleins declined on religious grounds – but as we know, religion has no place in liberal Oregon (except Islam, I’m sure). For their impertinence, they were forced to pay $135,000 for “emotional damages” in 2015 and subsequently closing their store.

At the time, many reported it as an innocent lesbian couple who just happened to wander into Sweet Cakes and ask for a wedding cake. To that, the client stated that they don’t serve same-sex couples. This is of course, total crapola! What actually happened was: “When Rachel and Laurel arrived at sweet cakes they met with Aaron, who asked: ‘What are the names of the bride and groom?’ ‘It’s two brides,’ Rachel told him cheerfully. ‘I think we may have wasted your time,’ said Klein. ‘We don’t do same-sex weddings.’”

The now “legally” married lesbian couple did not just wander in. They targeted the Kleins, knowing, or at least suspecting, what the outcome would be, due to the Klein’s Christian beliefs. read more

In this episode I dedicate the entire Podcast to Islam and the real stated goal of the religion of peace to spread Sharia throughout the world. I discuss the misconception the West has regarding the meaning of peace. Peace has a completely different meaning to us than it does to Muslims. It’s important that we learn this. And I discuss the Obama administration and its seemingly strange relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. But is it really so strange. read more